Apple released the Mac OS X 10.2.4 upgrade via Software Update last week, and some users are reporting modem connection issues, Bluetooth sync problems, and some other minor issues. MacNN has posted a special report to help users with some of the most common issues.

USER COMMENTS 60 comment(s)

10.2.4 System Clock 1969(4:33pm EST Mon Feb 17 2003)My clock keeps reseting to 12/31/69 4PM when I restart from shutdown (alternate solution for now is to check the box to sync with network servers). Why even call this an update? I didn't have this problem with 10.2.3. What's next in 10.2.5? My system clock is fixed but my speakers wont work? – by RMG

I'm not having any problems(9:01pm EST Mon Feb 17 2003)Sounds like you might have an older Mac. Some of the updates don't like the older junky Macs. – by MingIsBack

STFU(11:17pm EST Mon Feb 17 2003)“I'm not having any problems (9:01pm EST Mon Feb 17 2003)Sounds like you might have an older Mac. Some of the updates don't like the older junky Macs. – by MingIsBack”

STFU assclown.

Not everyone has a dad who can afford high-end Macs for them you little snot nosed sh1t. – by Jewsh

Jewsh(2:05am EST Tue Feb 18 2003)I thought Mac users were supposed to be more refined than that!! – by Atomik_Sun

Worked fine for me(3:07am EST Tue Feb 18 2003)Well, the install crashed the system when it said I was out of swap space. But after a restart, everything seems to be running fine.Anyone know how to move your swap to a different drive?– by ArcherB

no no no…(10:06am EST Tue Feb 18 2003)The date/time reset glitch appears to be only hitting {less-than-symbol}year old Mac models.

10.2.4 installed succesfuly on G4 466 'GigE' with no error reported.– by MacJedi

10.2.4 is working fine(7:09pm EST Tue Feb 18 2003)if your computer is a little old it could be that your clock battery is dead, or you may just have a really crappy ols mac. I have the newest update running on my 500 mhz (bought in late 2000 before the 700 mhz G3 iMacs came out (flower power), and it is running fine. not only are startups faster, but the latest beta of Safari that came with it is blazing now, and the default pop-up blocker is amazing. I have only had a couple of pop ups and those have been script alerts that probably can't be blocked. My only issue with my mac now, is the paint bubbling off my powerbook, and the stupid resize bug, that doesn't resize the window in safari (if you are running in full screen, and open a new window, it opens a full size window displaced down and right making the scroll bar and window re-sizer unaccesable untill you drag the window over. VERY ANNOYING!!!) Other than those two issues, my macs are perfect right now. – by Stan_Long

A Mac is a PC(9:20pm EST Tue Feb 18 2003)Wow, looks like all those Porches and Mercedes' you guys use just had a nice injection of Windows like behavior. You may now realize and understand that Owning a Mac is no more hassle free than a PC. When it works right. But they just always work, right? Of course, if you keep them updated. Like this last update… etc etc – by :(

hmmm(11:22pm EST Tue Feb 18 2003)yeh, I use a PC, but Im here to defend MAC… the above comment is silly. Gee, how many times has this happened in the last… oh… um… FIFTEEN years?

Microsoft Windows has only now been around for 10 (Win 3.1+) or 8 years if you count from WIN95 (The one that really ripped off MACOS), and look how many bad patches have come out of Redmond!! “My God, its full of patches!”

Even when you consider that Apple just made a major kernel switch, I don't think anyone can argue how flawless it was compared to the upgrades MS puts out.– by The Scavenger

Clock Reset(7:08am EST Wed Feb 19 2003)Well, I have a Mac Dual which is not even 6 months old. I updated to 10.2.4 and discovered the same annoying new feature – my clock resets to December 1969. I know it's as the result of an update but maybe this should have been called a 'downdate'. Just a thought. Anyone have a solution?

PS – This PC/Mac argument is ridiculous – I use both – I like both. – by Andy

theory:(8:59am EST Wed Feb 19 2003)Ever since OS X Public Beta my 3 year old +/- machines have had date/time errors. They would sporadically lose the date and revert to 1970 as is being reported with the new machines under 10.2.4

This wasn't a regular occurrence by any means, and it seemed to be a problem only when booting the machine under 9 and then booting back under X. Either 9 would show the time being off by a few hours in the same day, and/or X would re-boot to 1970…

Now, it seems as though under 10.2.4 the issues have finally been rectified, I've booted back and forth a dozen or so times since installing 10.2.4 and the time setting has maintained its integrity.

I'll allow folks to draw their own conclusions from this evidence… My conclusion is that the way in which the hardware has handled time maintenance has changed on the newest generation of motherboards, 10.2.4's bug fix for the older method has borked the more recent protocol.

I've always gotten around the problem by auto-synching to a net clock.– by MacJedi

Same clock problem..(11:48am EST Wed Feb 19 2003)I'm having the same issue with my clock resetting back to 1969 sporadically since upgrading to 10.2.4. I have a 7 month old PowerPC – Dual 1GHZ. I contacted Apple support and they said their engineers are aware of this happening on “some” of their models using 10.2.4. They didn't commit to a time frame on when there's going to be a fix. I'm confident that they'll have this resolved shortly.

PS – I agree, this PC vs Mac debate is silly. To each his own. Personally, I'm an IT professional who's been working within the Windows enviroment for 15 years. OSX is simply one of the most amazing operating systems I ever used. – by laserot

Ok here(7:46pm EST Wed Feb 19 2003)My 10.2.4 update worked just fine. I (cowardly) waited for a few days to see people's general experiences. So I decided to switch off all non-apple GUI enhancements before installing, only to re-activate them after reboot. – by Johan-Olof

system clock 1970(11:04am EST Thu Feb 20 2003)I've got a new dual 867.Installed the 10.2.4 combo update and all was well for a while. then, within a week, my clock resets to 1st Jan 1970 every time I restart from shutdown. I'm in England and tried phoning tech support at Apple but got stuck in a huge queue so gave up. Does anyone know when there will be a patch for this. Anyone have an email address for apple that can be used to ask about this?– by Elen Hawke

Mac OS X 10.2.4(1:57pm EST Thu Feb 20 2003)I think that the problem with le clock reset to 1969 or 1970 is all over the world and affecting machines with dual processor, just when starting, not when restarting. In the same computer I have installed OS 9.2, OS X 10.2.3 and OS X 10.2.4 and the problem represents only withe the 10.2.4. I mean that when I set the correct date with 9.2 or 10.2.3, is kept after shut down. – by Plinio

System clock 1970(7:25pm EST Thu Feb 20 2003)Here is and E-mail address, I hope it helps, but the Apple PR, doesn't look too good at this time

Good luck, I hope you get an answer. – by John

Sytem Clock Problems(5:14pm EST Fri Feb 21 2003)It doesn't seem like Apple even wants to address this clock problem, the 10.2.4 is still available on their OS X Web site, with no mention of the clock problem, such as CAUTION – THIS COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR SYSTEM' with all the problems people are having, nothing has come out from Apple in the way of a progress report, or if they are even working on it. Why don't they just release 10.2.3 as an update and work the BUGS out of 10.2.4 which look more like a beta version, rather then a final update. – by John

clock problem here on g4 dual 800 (5:24pm EST Sat Feb 22 2003)my computer is a year old and is doing the same thing 1969 – by ultra

Clock problem with 10.2.4(5:48pm EST Sat Feb 22 2003)I am having the same clock problem as others, it resets to 1970 on restarting and I have to reset the clock every time I startup. My system is a dual processor G$ 1GHz – by Allan Fawcett

system clock problem(3:55am EST Sun Feb 23 2003)If you go to which is Apple's own discussion site you will see over 200 messages on this, and more coming in daily. I've posted to their feedback page twice to no avail. Others have done so as well. They are still offering the 10.2.4 download, so it seems they don't take this problem seriously. It is a major pain to reset the clock all the time….I have to shut my noisy mirror door G4 down when I'm not using it or it drives the rest of the house mad, and if i put it in sleep mode i sometimes lose the mouse. If you don't reset the clock, email gets messed up. I'm beginning to doubt the wisdom of moving from PC to Mac. If Apple don't take this seriously, then that sucks. If they take it seriously but can't find a fix yet then fair enough, but in that case why are they still offering this bug for people to download and mess up their system???!!! – by elen hawke

RE: elen(2:00pm EST Sun Feb 23 2003)At least you can take care of the noise now:

sorry if this appears twice…forgot to put my name on the last one – by elen hawke

Here's my list too guys…(12:57pm EST Mon Feb 24 2003)1) When restarting the machine, the clock and date are set to somewhere in 1970.

2) When restarting the machine, the input menu is set to British and US, when only British has been selected. To reset this we open System Preferences, International, and Input menu, select US (even though it isn't checked) and uncheck it to get rid of the input menu.

3) When the main monitor run from the Apple installed card goes to sleep – we have slave monitors installed – the monitor switches back on out of scan range.

4) Periodically, a grey transparent screen scrolls over your work with a box in the middle of the screen saying “You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the restart button” in what appears to be English, French, German and Japanese, with an IP address at the end of it. – by Marcus

apple aware(2:35pm EST Mon Feb 24 2003)i see from the apple discussion list that they are aware of the problem and are working on a fix. Soon i hope! – by elen hawke

Clock Problems(12:05am EST Tue Feb 25 2003)This problem shows complete negligence on the part of Apple, they have been made aware of this problem, however nothing has been done, the 10.2.4 is still on their Web site, how many people have gone out and bought a new battery because of this problem, how many people have lost or misplaced important data because of this problem, while Apple twiddles their thumbs and doesn't even address this problem. – by John

Apple Japan? Yes, also(8:39am EST Tue Feb 25 2003) I reached this site after some hours on chasing system clock and input method problem on my mac.Now,I know it's not my domestic problem. But I ordered backup battery yesterday. May Buddah save us. – by SATO

Buddah(2:01pm EST Tue Feb 25 2003)Hi Sato,

So the problem really is widespread! The Buddah would probably remind us that attachment brings dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile we wait on apple…. – by elen hawke

Clock problem(3:50pm EST Tue Feb 25 2003)Dual 1gig G4 9 months old, same problem with the clock resetting to 1969. A good year, but not one I want to see every time I restart the machine. Glad I found this site. I was about to go buy a new battery too. Maybe It's a plot to sell lots of batteries!!!!

Modem Connection Issues? Thats an Understatement…(10:38pm EST Tue Feb 25 2003)I have been going out of my @#$%ing mind since I let software update “upgrade” me to 10.2.4The clock was a bother but the connection problem (once I shut down or go to sleep I can't connect again… by some random luck after I tried the MILLIONITH time it connected and now I am afraid to shut down my computer) is INSANE. Until i came across this website I was hoping it was a problem with my cable modem. I am calling Apple in the morning but if anyone can help me (Obviously, if I was a geek i would have known better than to install this thing…) I'll be your best friend. – by girlwithheadache

by the way(10:40pm EST Tue Feb 25 2003)I have only had my G4 for a month. – by girlwithheadache

last notes(10:45pm EST Tue Feb 25 2003)Apple Support told me to “fix” the clock issue by syncing it to the network. This works great UNLESS YOU CAN'T CONNECT…

Someone mentioned something about the noisy fan… please tell me more as I thought it was extra noisy but like I said it's only a month old and my previous mac was beige so I am in a whole new world… – by girlwithheadache

noisy fan(2:47am EST Wed Feb 26 2003)Apple will send you a replacement fan and power supply for the price of posting it. Unfortunately i didn't keep a record of the URL to apply for this, but searching the apple site might turn it up. there is also a firmware update which you get through the download option on system preferences, and this calms the fan down quite a bit, but not enough! – by elen hawke (another

noisy fan(10:24am EST Wed Feb 26 2003)info here:

– by alan

modem connection issue(11:10am EST Wed Feb 26 2003)My cable modem wouldn't connect either, but the problem is with my firewall. attbi has changed their connection scheme somewhat – now I have to turn off the firewall briefly, then connect using dhcp, then turn the firewall back on. Hope this helps. – by Don

modem connection problems(9:40pm EST Wed Feb 26 2003)Since I installed 10.2.4. I have had modem connection problems. Since we are 'rural' I have to work with a regular dial-up….. The people at Compusmart have helped me reset a few things but the problem still occurs erratically. The problem: it connects, then before accessing email or internet disconnects again, stating that 'the other side is not responding'….. Hope Apple is aware! – by Adalei

10.2.4 Clock Problems(11:52pm EST Wed Feb 26 2003)IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS NOW, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A QUICK FIX FROM APPLE OR EVEN AN ANSWER, THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANYONE THERE WHO CAN GIVE YOU ONE, APPLE SHOULD GO OUT AND HIRE SOMEONE WHO CAN COME UP WITH A FIX. IF THEY WERE BILLED FOR ALL THE TIME AND INCONVIENCE SPENT BY PEOPLE TRYING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM, I AM SURE IT WOULDN'T TAKE THIS LONG. – by John

Clock resets to 1969(7:40am EST Thu Feb 27 2003)I have the same problem on both a 6 month old dual 1 ghz G4 and a 500 Mhz Ti Powerbook (original model) . This only started happening when I upgraded both to 10.2.4 – by Keith

PB 12' sleep problem(9:30am EST Thu Feb 27 2003)We have a PB 12″ running 10.2.4 and it has a sleep problem. From sleep it won't wake up and stays dead. Only resetting can solove the problem – by Ed

Clock Problem 10.2.4(6:49pm EST Thu Feb 27 2003)Here is a good work around, that someone suggested in the OS X discusions.

Pushing and holding the power button for 5-7 seconds to force shutdown does seem to work as a good work around for this problem, I have used the power button on both my computer and cinema display and either one works, and time remains set after normal startup, hopefully this will point Apple in the right direction in coming up with a perminant fix.

files from the system/library.extensions folder with versions from 10.2.3 or earlier. If you don't have access to an earlier version, I know people have posted them for download online somewhere a simple internet search should find them.

It completely solved my connection problems, but seems to have created about a 10 second delay when putting the powerbook to sleep. Apple is aware of the problem, hopefully they will come up with a real solution before too long. – by ima pseudonym

Apple Fix Yourselves Up(6:24am EST Tue Mar 04 2003)I Have just read these articles But to late, I have already purchased a new battery. Apple customer service gave me no indication of an os error. On top of this apple can not supply me with a copy of os9.2.2 that I can install on a separate drive without having to install os X withit. – by davetherave

continued(6:33am EST Tue Mar 04 2003)ps. the new battery has seemed to solve the problem, but I will double check tonight again now. I can t beleive that apple could of let something like this slip. PS has anyone booted up from a generic OS 9.2.2 on a g4 mirror door 2002. – by davetherave

date resets to 1970…(3:32pm EST Wed Mar 05 2003)…when i boot into os9 after using osx. i too upgraded to 10.2.4, then the problem started. sucks. my emails are fkd up proper. good to know im not alone here. anyway, davetherave, there is a workaround ive been told about for getting 9.2.2 on a separate partition. i intend to try it when i next partition my disk and reinstall. anyway the solution is this:

When you use the software install or restore that came with your mac, it puts OS9 and X on the same partition. BEFORE YOU EVER RUN CLASSIC, copy the os9 folder to a separate partition (while running X). Then, goto the “Classic” system preference in the system preferences application. Select your newly-copied OS 9 folder as your “classic” folder, but THEN UN-SELECT IT RIGHT AWAY by selecting the OS 9 on the same partion as X. By doing this, you “bless” the OS 9 folder. It should now show up in the “startup disk” preference. Never use it as your “classic” environment within X, only to boot directly. When you first start classic, it says it needs to update some stuff. MAKE SURE IT UPDATES THE 9 THAT'S ON YOUR OS X DISK, not your special cubase OS 9.

try it and let me know what happens! sounds like it will work to me. let you be the test pilot tho ) – by g.boozy

10.2.4 System Clock 1969(3:11pm EST Thu Mar 06 2003)

With this Clock problem going on for several weeks now and Apple being aware of the problem, you would think at least they could come up with some sort of a patch to correct this problem, but no action yet.

Just think of what kind of a advertisement campainge Dell and Gateway could come up with.

AT LEAST OUR COMPUTERS KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS.

WHEN WE GET UP IN THE MORNING, WE DON'T HAVE TO ASK WHAT TIME IT IS.

WE ADDRESS THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE AND DON'T TAKE YOUR COMPUTER BACK IN TIME.

– by John

hard drive damaged post 10.2.4(8:18am EST Sat Mar 08 2003)I have experienced the same problem on 2 different Macs (a G3 700Mhz iBook and a Dual Gig G4 desktop). After upgrading to 10.2.4 and then booting into 9.2.2 I got the dreaded blinking question mark. It took me three days of running various utilities (Norton, Tech Tool, Disk Warrior) to get these drives back and working! Has anyone else who switches back and forth from 9.2.2 to 10.2.4 experienced damaged hard drives and boot problems? – by Steve

there is no fix for date and time bug(3:39pm EST Sat Jul 12 2003)Apple has admitted that there is a date and clock bug which resets dates to 1969 or 1970 in article 25374. They claim that this problem affects the 10.2.4 update and the solution is to upgrade to 10.2.5 or higher or to use the network time server to get time from an online apple server. First of all, the problem affects 10.2.4 and higher — so upgrading again will not necessarily fix this. Neither will using the network time server. I have a TiBook G4 500 running Panther 10.2.6 and I am currently experiencing the date and time problem whether I set the clock manually or using the network time server. This is a bug and until Apple releases some type of fix, it will most likely not go away. – by push2flush

no fix for date and time bug — correction(3:41pm EST Sat Jul 12 2003)my last post says that i am running Panther 10.2.6 — bit of a typo. I meant to say running Jaguar 10.2.6. – by push2flush

clock and battery problem(1:41pm EST Mon Jul 14 2003)My battery doesnt recharge, and the power supply must be plugged in to turn on the computer. The battery icon has a “x” in it.

the clock also reset s to December 1969, everytime I restart or turn on from shut down.

I have a ibook 700 running Jaguar 10.2.6 – by erok@djerok.com

Help!! Mac 1Ghz bought after Jan 2003(11:56am EST Tue Aug 19 2003)I have a mac G4 that will not load into the OS it sits at the apple without bringing up the spinning rotor on the bottom of the screen. I have started up with the hardware test all teast passed. I started with install cd ran disk utilities. repaired all problems. I purchase norton 7 but it won't boot to the cd. What can I do. – by Jay

i'm so confused(6:43pm EST Sun Aug 31 2003)Okay so i updated to osx2.4 i believe and when i got the option to delete all my other files i did because i wanted that clean start .. and when i did i didnt know os x needs os 9 like what the heck? does anyone know any ways around getting cds to install with out 9? i cant even get my restore disk to load with out 9 the only thing i can get to run is the osx cd… anyone got any clues like a simple thing like a game wont even install .. how do i fix this with out buying a new os 9 disk??? HELP :( – by -Jennifer

10.2.3(9:44am EST Wed Sep 10 2003)My PowerBook G4 is on 10.2.3. not 10.2.4. and it sets the clock to 1st jan 1970. It also shows the battery icon with a cross through it and will not start up unless plugged in. Does anyone know what is wrong with it and what I can do? – by elf

date and time(9:00am EST Fri Nov 28 2003)I called Apple regarding the date and time changing to Dec. 31, 1969 and the tech guy said to me ” Im not aware of any issues regarding this”. I informed him that perhaps he should check customer feedback, there are MANY people who are having this problem. My dual G4 is only a few months old and they cant fix their own software. I dont care for windows, but a least you got a nice night light with the blue screen of death – by Agent Smith

Power book wont start up *HELP!(6:57pm EST Fri Nov 05 2004)Having big problems with my powerbook- Everytime i turn it on the apple icon at start up turns into the international symbol for no (The circle with a line through it). And will go no further any feed back would be much appreciated. – by James

Power book wont start up *HELP! (11:14am EST Mon Nov 07 2005)I have the exact same problem, with my powerbook!If anyone could help, please! karenkerekes@gmail.com – by Karen

Time date problem(10:27pm EST Wed Nov 09 2005)Today's date is 9 Nov, 2005 around 7:30pm when I just started my 12″ G4 Power Book 1.33 I found the date/ time was set to 4:03pm december 31, 1969. I am running 10.4.3. I guess this date thing is not related to 10.2.4. Any suggestions? – by mjs

2 week young powerbook G4(11:05pm EST Fri Nov 11 2005)November 11, 2005 and having problems after startup – getting shown a message stating “Your computer's clock is set to a date before March 24, 2001. This may cause some applications to behave erratically.”So I look up at my clock and it shows me December 31, 1969. I've called Apple and they claim “we haven't heard one complaint about this”, and can't help me. Anyone offer advice? peace – by fletch

computer clock error(3:32pm EST Sat Mar 18 2006)I am having problems after startup just like fletch. I'm getting shown a message stating “Your computer's clock is set to a date before March 24, 2001. This may cause some applications to behave erratically.”So I look up at my clock and it shows me 03/01/1970. I'm running a dual G5 1.8. This error keeps popping up after login. Anyone help? please? Thanks – by matt9b

computer clock error stops startup(8:51pm EST Thu Jun 22 2006)I got the same “Your computer's clock is set to a date before March 24, 2001. —repeatedly after I let my iBookG4 sleep (too long) and let the power run out.Usually I repaired this easily

But just now it hangs spinning with this message.Other postings show change of battery may help. Actually starting from a Tiger installation DVD (gereric, not the one which came with the iBook) shows two pictures showing replacement of batteries. I am still on AppleCare and will see if that helps.

Restarting PMU (shift-option-control- power_button) does not help. – by Peter